‘It's nice to dream’ - part-time Surrey football club with top league record in Europe

  • Watch Carolyn Sim's report

It may be a world away from the riches, glamour and TV cameras of the highest reaches of football, but Europe’s best league campaign this season doesn’t belong to the likes of Real Madrid or Manchester City.

That honour belongs to a club a little closer to home.  

Part-time Farnham Town, who compete in the ninth tier of English football, have won all eighteen of their league fixtures so far this campaign - leaving them top of the league and targeting promotion to the level above. 

It means they are the only team in England yet to drop a point, a record which would be remarkable for any club; but even more so far part-time players who juggle training and matches with full-time jobs.  

“It’s nice to dream and this is a dream to be a part of,” says Harry Hugo, a club director who joined the board a little under two years ago.  

“It’s every local boy’s dream to be involved with a football club you grew up playing for and being a part of.

Thousands of pounds have been invested in the ground which is often attended by more than a thousand fans.

"I feel very privileged to be a part of a club that’s being so successful with so many great people. We’ve got a very good team, a really good winning culture and a group of players that are determined to set records and create history.” 

Despite only being in his late 20s, Hugo joined the club with the ambition of making it the best non-league experience in the country for fans – but couldn’t have envisaged just how well the team would fare on the pitch this season. 

A penalty from local boy Harry Cooksley ensured a 3-2 win over Spelthorne Sports to maintain the 100% record – and with most of their squad being made up of players from London and Surrey, there is a genuine sense of community around everything they do. 

But despite their incredible run so far, the club are not getting carried away with more than half the season still to play.

Even with eighteen successive wins, their lead at the top of the table is only six points.  

“I’m very realistic. It’s crazy to be in 2024 and still have the record that we have,” Hugo says.  

“But it doesn’t mean anything in reality, it’s a 38-game league season and you don’t win anything by having a great run. You win everything by having a great 38 games.” 

The club’s fortunes have been looking up since the arrival of manager Paul Johnson eighteen months ago.

Manager Paul Johnson says the club's winning streak is is down to fresh impetus both on and off the pitch.

Incredibly, in that time the team still hasn’t tasted defeat in a league match away from home, but there have been big changes off the pitch too. 

Attendances have risen from around 130 to more than 550 per game, as the local community have rallied around the club.

While those attendances don’t compare to the tens of thousands seen higher up the pyramid, their ambitions are lofty.  

The Surrey side are hoping to reach the Isthmian League, English football’s seventh tier, where the level of competition, attendances and profile of opponents are even greater. 

The club’s hierarchy knows that winning runs like this one – and keeping tickets affordable – are what can make the difference.

That, for Hugo and his fellow directors, is the bigger picture: “it’s not like it’s pub football. This is a good level of football. You can go and enjoy and support your local team for much less money than in the Premier League. 

“The message is: get behind Farnham if you’re a Surrey non-league football fan, and we can take this as far as we want to – within reason!” 

Farnham Town are unlikely to last the entire season with a 100% record – or even unbeaten, for that matter. But for now, in this corner of Surrey, they are living the dream.